Debt
by Random Guise
Summary: A one-shot prequel to the movie "The Iron Giant". Kent Mansley starts off with almost no support and a vague sense of job responsibilities, soon to be overwhelmed by something a LOT bigger than him. This story sets up the character and his position. I don't own these characters, and I'm pretty sure I would never name my kid Hogarth.


**A/N: Takes place before the movie "The Iron Giant".**

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Debt

"Send Mansley in here!" the General bellowed over the intercom. Yelling at Kent Mansley was the last thing General Kenneth Rogard wanted to do; it hadn't worked yet and he doubted it would work now. The man had been a lousy soldier, a horrible clerk and was turning out to be an inept field agent as well. Mansley was a bumbler at everything he did; the only thing saving him from being tossed out into the street was the fact that Kent's father had saved Rogard's life in the World War II. Rogard had recently wondered if the debt was worth it and it would have been better just to die.

The door opened and Mansley tumbled in, drawing himself up to a salute even though he was technically a civilian now. Tall, thin, topped with red hair and blue eyes on one end and immaculately shined shoes on the other, he looked presentable enough. The new fedora and dark trench coat made him look like a government agent, although Rogard often prayed he would wake up to find him with a different government entirely. So far his prayer was unanswered.

"What happened this time Mansley, and don't tell me about the navy conspiring against the army." The General had tried to find a place for Mansley, some place where he would be either useful or at least harmless. He was put in the Acquisition department, only to order 500 tractors for an aircraft carrier. His time in Communications was marked with a mistranslation that almost created an international incident. Rogard had hopes (high hopes would have been too optimistic) that Recruitment would have been his calling; what the man lacked in intelligence was somewhat made up for with his earnestness.

"No navy involvement…this time" Mansley announced, shifting his gaze from side to side as if a seaman might be lurking behind the curtain.

"You can drop the salute now."

"Yes sir." The hand went down and Kent stuck both into his pockets as he started to pace. "I don't understand how it could have happened sir, but there was a perfectly harmless paperwork error with some new recruits."

"Harmless? When we send a few soldiers to round up some AWOL recruit who didn't show up for training, I expect to find some young adult who's having second thoughts. What I _don't_ expect to find is that somehow the whole third grade in Hogglam, Iowa is _now in the army!_ " Rogard rose and walked over to Mansley, staring up into the man's face as he could feel the last few black hairs on his head turning gray. He lowered his voice to a growl. "Just how is that going to look, Mansley?"

"It won't be a problem, General. I've already requested an honorable discharge for all 57 children. I guess I was a little too persuasive in my pep talk to the school, heh heh."

"I can be persuaded to do a lot of things right now, and most of them won't end well for you. What is it, man? Do you hate touring the country? Do you hate making decisions? Maybe it's just people that throw you off."

"I don't know sir; I try to do my best. I like to think that I'm really good with details, but sometimes I miss one."

Or 57 of them, thought Rogard.

"I want to help our country, sir. I just haven't found my place yet. I can't explain it, but I know there's a job out there with my name on it."

'Village Idiot' came to mind, but Rogard didn't say it. Time to bring out his weapon of last resort. "Mansley, what I'm going to tell you now is in the strictest confidence. Can I count on you?"

Mansley saluted again. "Completely, sir!"

"Good! Let me make sure that our conversation won't be overheard." He made a show of going over and muting the intercom, when in fact with a quick sleight of hand he turned it on so his aide could overhear in the next room. "There, now we don't have to worry about enemy agents listening in, Mansley. The government is creating a new department. Have you heard of the D-U-P?"

"No sir."

"Good, because you shouldn't have heard of it; hush-hush and all that. DUP is the Department of Unexplained Phenomena. Every once in a while things happen that just can't be rationalized in a conventional way, and the government needs a response. You will be that response, Mansley. Here, let me show you the seal." The general grabbed a blank sheet of paper and quickly drew a rough sketch of an eagle grasping two question marks in its talons.

"Wow…" Mansley said, almost drooling. He reached for the paper and the General snatched it away.

"Secrecy, Mansley. I can't let you have this yet. You'll get a badge and a car when the promotion is finalized, and an office in Washington from which you'll scour the country for threats of unusual nature."

"You can count on me, sir!" Mansley saluted yet again, so sharply he almost hurt himself as he knocked his own hat off.

"I'm sure I can" the General said gravely. "Return to your normal duties and you'll be notified when the position is ready."

Mansley grinned and broke salute to stride out of the office. After the door shut behind him, a side door opened and the General's aide walked in and walked over to the desk to look at the drawing. "D-U-P, sir?"

"More like d-u-p-e, but I want an ID made up and some official stationary, along with a symbol something like that as an official seal. Get Martin over in A12 to design a good one; we need to make it look official. As far as Kent Mansley is concerned, it is official. I'll get that man out of my hair for good after this as he goes from one snipe hunt to another."

"Who will be his superior?"

"Just me, no need to bother anyone else with his frantic midnight calls. I'm sure the Russians will figure into some of the events; maybe we'll have a rash of double-yoked eggs that he'll rush to investigate. I can only hope, but the busier he is with wild goose chases the safer America is."

The End

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 **A/N: Great movie and Kent Mansley was the stereotypical government antagonist, but also one that didn't seem to have a lot of backing at the beginning of the movie. This is one possible explanation.**


End file.
